5 Tips For Preventing Scope Creep Without Losing Your Clients

If you’ve been a freelancer for any amount of time, you know the drill. You finalize a project’s terms with a client and you get to work. Over time, the project gets bigger and bigger, but the pay stays the same. This is referred to as scope creep and it’s a revenue killer. Many freelancers, especially the nearly 40% who rely on clients as their primary sources of income, let this happen because they’re afraid they’ll lose clients if they speak up.

Scope creep is one of the most annoying aspects of freelancing, but it can be avoided. Use some of these strategies so you can fight back against it.

1. Be a dynamic provider

Freelancers are either passive or dynamic. Passive freelancers let their clients take the lead, even if they’re driving the car off a cliff. This is not collaborative. The client speaks, and the freelancer jumps. The client might ask for color combinations that don’t go together or demand website copy that resembles spam, but the freelancer doesn’t speak up.

The freelancer plays along, the car flies off the cliff, and then the client expects the freelancer to get it back on the road.

Instead of being a passive freelancer, be a dynamic one. Collaborate with your client to help him reach his goals. Give your input and help your client make wise decisions. When you do this, your client is more likely to get a finished project that he likes.

As a freelancer, you always want to put your best foot forward. Because of that, you might feel compelled to overdeliver from time to time. This is referred to as gold plating. It’s the process of adding more value to a project, even though a client didn’t ask for it.

It might sound like a great idea, but it’s pointless. Researchers found that there aren’t any benefits associated with going above and beyond. People expect you to keep your promises. You’ll not be rewarded if you exceed them. Instead, you’ll be bombarded with unrealistic expectations. It won’t take long for your clients to expect extras for free.

Fortunately, this is easy to avoid. Stop gold plating so your clients don’t expect to get things for free. Then, you can avoid the uncomfortable conversation that will eventually occur when you decide to put a stop to all of the extras.

3. Be the first to mention extras

Sometimes, you’ll notice that a project will benefit from something that wasn’t included in the original contract. For instance, you might finish a layout, only to realize that a sidebar would look great. If that happens, approach the client with a choice.

If a client asks you to do additional work, remind him of the terms of the original contract. For instance, if the original contract states that you’re writing a 500-word article, but now he wants to increase it to 750 words, remind him of that. Then, give him a choice. You can do the 750-word article for X amount of money or you can continue with the 500-word article.

Providing clients with choices puts the power in their hands, so they’re not offended.

5. Send out a “zero invoice”

If you don’t feel comfortable offering options, you can use the “zero invoice” strategy. This is an easy way to address scope creep without confronting your clients. For instance, let’s say that your client wants you to add an additional image to an article that you wrote. Add the extra image and create an invoice that includes the amount you would normally charge for that service.

Cross out the amount and put a zero, letting the person know that you gave him the service for free this time. This will make the client more mindful before asking for additional items the next time. On top of that, he will think that you were very kind to give it to him for free that time.

Then, of course, if he asks for an extra item again, charge him for it.